LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS MEDIA CONFERENCE

June 4, 2021

Paul George

Postgame Press Conference

Los Angeles Clippers 104, Dallas Mavericks 97

Q. Can I just ask you about the emotions of this game? Some guys it felt like a Game 7, for you guys it was do-or-die. How did you feel after?

PAUL GEORGE: It was a Game 7 for us. It was an elimination game. We could have went home tonight. We hung in there. We fought it out and proud of my guys.

Q. Now that you've been through this, is there anything that you now know for Game 7 that you can take from game 6?

PAUL GEORGE: Yeah, I got into a good rhythm. I pretty much just seen it all that they could do to me. So I mean, I think I actually got into a good rhythm finding my shots early and just being aggressive early.

Q. What's the thing that you have picked up over six games that they are trying to make you -- either trick you into with their defense or try to trap you into or the thing that you've now figured out how to overcome?

PAUL GEORGE: I'm not getting into no game plans.

Q. This game, I know you had to recover after all those minutes the last three quarters, especially in the fourth quarter when it seemed like you were at your best when Kawhi was sitting to start that fourth quarter, how did you kind of dig deep and be effective on both ends of the floor like you were to finish this game the right way?

PAUL GEORGE: I mean, it's funny. I was actually more tired in the third than I was in the fourth. I think it was just time-outs that we had kind of let me get my energy back but I remember the third, I told Kawhi, "Collectively we are going to give you something, just keep going." And you know, we did that in the fourth. I was able to come out aggressive while he was getting his rest, getting his break. I saw he had it going early. He's been leading us all series. So I knew at that point I had to be aggressive. I had to look for my shots keep within the fight, keep us going and Kawhi got back. He took us there.

Q. This whole series has felt like a heavyweight fight. What's Game 7 going to feel like especially after all you went through Game 7 last year and this season trying to get back to this point? What's Sunday going to feel like?

PAUL GEORGE: Sunday is going to be fun. It's elimination for both teams. It's about as good as you get at this time of the year. So we are looking forward to it. They are looking forward to it. They have played better there at home than we have.

We've got to come out and we've got to counter that, and you know, we've just got to be us, stick to what we do, stick to us and give it all we got.

Q. You've also seen many great performances from Kawhi, you called him the most reliable guy in the NBA, but what was it like watching him not only defensively against Luka but eight points in like a flurry there in the fourth quarter?

PAUL GEORGE: Yeah, I mean, that was one-on-one right there. You know, to do it on both sides, not only was he scoring but you know, he was doing everything to stop, making it tough on the other end. You saw one of the best, if not the best two-way players at his best, and so it was fun to watch.

But you know, I've got to do more. I've got to be better. We can't put that pressure on him on a nightly basis.

Q. After Game 5, you mentioned the third how it could haunt you the way it ended. There was another stretch tonight in the third quarter when things were going sideways. Was that the way that Game 5 unraveled, is that something you talked about in the last 24 hours about things to clean up, ways to fix it, who to avoid, and how do you guys keep from letting that lead to another loss tonight?

PAUL GEORGE: It's all turnovers. It's all turnovers. That Game 5, that third quarter that got out of hand, it was a lot of turnovers that led to easy baskets. We had a stretch, again in the third where I was sloppy with it. Turnovers led to easy baskets. That's just what we can't do. That's just what we can't do. We can't give up -- you know, we have to value the ball and value possessions.

That fourth quarter we did a great job of taking care of it. We valued the possessions. I thought we got great looks, whether we made or miss, each time we came down. Again, ultimately, we held them between points and we got stops, and I mean, you saw a big shot from Kawhi.